As Comfort Stands Behind You
by Cecils-graham-cracker
Summary: Khoshekh has been mortally wounded and Cecil isn't taking it well. Turns out that just what he needs is simply standing behind him...


**WARNING: SPOILERS FOR WELCOME TO NIGHT VALE EPISODE 43: VISITOR**

**I do not own Night Vale.**

**Suggested song(s):** _-Any Other Name (Thomas Newton) -None Can Die (Anne Dudley)_

_..._

My name is Cecil Palmer. I am a radio host here in Night Vale and now I am very, very alone. Sure I still have Carlos and Old Woman Josie and the Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives in my Home and even sometimes Dana, if I'm lucky. But now, I am without my best friend. My boy. My Khoshekh has been brutally wounded. Attacked. He is in the hospital now, and I am stuck here in this hell.

…

I remember when it happened and how it happened, as it will be very hard to forget. The company that had recently bought our radio station, Strexcorp, had supposedly given me a Strexpet as a birthday present, even though it wasn't my birthday. The thing had been so…so…so cute, at first. Then I'd gotten to the news segment about the house that doesn't exist.

Just as I was getting to the middle of the bit I felt a sharp jolt of agony run up my leg. The Strexpet, which had previously been hugging my leg, had latched its teeth into my flesh. I cried out in pain and shock.

"Ow! Ah! Listeners," I began, my voice strained. "I think I've been…bitten…by this thing! Oh-oh god, I can see blood! Get off. Get off!" I shook my leg, a bit like a dog, attempting to shake the thing off. As I managed to do so it took a bit of my leg along with it. "Ow! Gahh…I-I need to go wash this!"

I got Intern Jeremy to set up the broadcast to my phone so I could keep talking to my audience. I quickly hobbled to the restroom, trying desperately to outrun the Strexpet. Once I got to my destination I slammed and locked the door.

Just then the sponsor segment ended. Now I was broadcasting from the bathroom. I looked behind me, smiling when I saw a certain floating cat with floating kittens.

"All this talk about Khoshekh today," I said. "And here he is. Hi, baby boy," I began scratching his chin, listening to him purr. "That thing is nothing like you. You-"

I stopped short as I heard more than saw the door being smashed off the wall.

"The door's come off its hinges?!"

I scrambled to hide in a stall, but doing that caused me to lose sight of the Strexpet. "The only thing worse than being about to see the devil," I whispered. "Is no longer being able to see the devil."

Suddenly I heard a pained meow and realized that the Strexpet had gone after Khoshekh. "What have you done to my cat, you monster?!" I snarled at Jeremy to take us to the weather as I threw myself at the beast, screaming, "you son of a bitch!"

…

Khoshekh was now in a cage. He was in a cage at the hospital, no longer floating. I sped down to it as I finished my show. Once I reached the building I almost flew to the back room once they let me through. I practically slid on the floor on my knees when I got to Khoshekh's prison.

"Oh…" I murmured once I actually saw the damage.

Khoshekh was essentially all bandage and dry blood, hardly any fur. His spine ridges were poking out of the cloth covering his back. He looked up at me pathetically, but didn't raise his head. It appeared as though he physically couldn't.

"Oh, Khoshekh…"

"Mr. Palmer," said a voice. I turned to see a doctor walking toward me.

"Y-yes?"

The woman knelt down next to me. "We aren't yet sure of how serious your cat's injuries are. Although I will warn you that his wounds are very serious and possibly life threatening. Whatever stacked him knew what it was doing."

I heard a sharp intake of breath and realized it was me who made the noise.

"Cecil," she murmured softly. I looked to her, noticing that my vision was blurry from tears. "You are the reason Khoshekh is here right now. If you hadn't jumped in and dragged whatever it was that hurt him off, you would be attending his funeral right now." Then she disappeared in a puff of white smoke.

I looked back to my cat, who had closed his eyes and was breathing softly. It almost looked as though he were not in any pain at all. But even I knew that wasn't the case. All I could do now was put my hand in the bars on the cage and sit.

…

It must have been an hour or so before either of us moved. Koshekh's ears twitched, as did my leg muscles. They were cramping terribly and it hurt to stand. Yet, I knew I had to stretch. The Night Vale Medical Board always stressed doing so. I heard almost every bone in my body crack and I groaned in relief as the cramps subsided slowly. I heard the door to the room creak behind me and turned to see a scientist there.

"Hello, Cecil," he said. His voice, as usual, was like honey and I instantly felt safer.

"Oh, Carlos,"

My voice cracked sharply. I couldn't sat anything else but I knew I didn't really have to. Carlos walked up to me and wrapped me in a bear hug.

"K-Khoshekh…" I cried. "H-he's-his head and p-paws and-and his body d-doesn't even look like-Carlos, I should have b-been there for him!"

Carlos only held me tighter. "Oh, Cecil, you _were_ there for him."

"B-but I couldn't save him!"

"He's not dead, luv. He's still alive."

That was enough to cause me to lost it entirely. It buried my face in the scientist's lab coat and wept, finally releasing my pain. Carlos say us both on the floor next to Khoshekh's cage and rocked me slowly back and forth, whispering to me soothing words both in Spanish and English. I wasn't even comprehending what he was saying. I was simply drowning in his voice.

"What's going to happen, Carlos?" I sniffled after a while. "What's going to happen to my boy?"

"I don't know," was his reply. "But they're going to do the best they can."

We sat a little while longer, then Carlos said, "How would you describe this current situation?"

"Depressing?"

"No, no, as though you were on air."

I looked up to his beautiful face. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"It's an attempt to get your mind off all this," the man replied. "I'm…not very good at this stuff…"

I stared off into space and my third eye, which had been closed until now, opened to reveal the purple iris and crescent-moon pupil. The pupil moved in time with the moon, so when the new moon rolled around it was rendered utterly useless and got a little annoying. The eye always stayed open when I fell into my radio persona. Since it showed me everything that went on in Night Vale, it was wonderfully helpful for spying on Carlos and Steve, to see if I needed to report the latter. My tattoos, sentient as they are, moved and shifted and danced. My violet eyes began to glow softly.

"Moonlight shines though the window," I began. "It complements the glow of the lights in the sky that we cannot explain. An animal lies in a cage in a beam of this light on the floor. His owner, helpless to do anything, can only sit like stone on the checkered tile. Carlos, dearest Carlos, is there for the two of them.

"Consolation does not come easily. Life goes on outside but time is frozen here. Possibly literally. No one in the outside world knows of the agony in the air of this room. All we can do now is sit and wait for Khoshekh-"

My composure broke once I said his name, as I was shoved back into reality. My third eye closed, my normal eyes stopped glowing and the movement of my tattoos slowed. I could only sit as fresh tears slid down my face again. Carlos and I were silent and eventually I think I fell asleep on him.

…

When I came to, I was in a chair with my head on Carlos's shoulder.

"I figured we should probably get off the floor," Carlos muttered when he saw that I was awake. "Khoshekh is still here."

I sighed, stretching. My eyes burned and my body ached and dried tears stained my cheeks.

"How is he?" I asked, fearful of the answer.

"Well no one's been in here to see him but us, but he's been awake a while."

At that I stood and walked to the cage. Kneeling down, I stuck my fingers through the steel bars. Khoshekh perked his ears as I gently petted his head and I heard him purring gently.

"Hey, Khosh," I said gently, using a cute pet name I'd given him. "How's my buddy?"

I only received a weak mew as a response, and it broke my heart. I felt Carlos's hand on my shoulder. I was happy for the support, but now it seemed that nothing could fully console or heal me now. Just as I thought this, another doctor came in.

"Mr. Palmer," he said. I turned and moved away from the cage door when he indicated to do so. He opened the door and very gently lifted my cat out of his cage. I was surprised. No one had ever held Khoshekh before…

"Your cat seems to be recovering, Mr. Palmer," the doctor told me.

"Just Cecil, please," I corrected.

The doctor nodded. "Khoshekh here is recovering nicely," he repeated. "Despite the severity of his wounds, he seems to be very resilient. All cats are, but he seems to be much stronger than most." He looked directly into my eyes. "He should be fine in a matter of about a week."

I exhaled the breath I didn't know I was holding. My Khoshekh…he was going to be ok! My kitty was going to live!

"Cecil," the doctor continued, bringing me back to the present.

"Yes?"

"Would you like to hold Khoshekh?"


End file.
